I do very little shaving in the vicinity of molten lava (Ming may be a tyrant, but he's no fool).
When it comes to bling, Ming is traditional: all my razors should be made of gold. What autocrat wants one that looks like stainless steel? Image is everything, and you want to sock it to them first thing out of the gate. Labored discussions of iridium would prompt only "What's that?" from most gawkers. Not of course that Ming lets too many watch him at shaving time. And afterwards, glossily shaved, he's too busy having rebels flung into molten lava to discuss the relative merits of razor handle metals.
